Since its debut at the Venice Film Festival, "Stories We Tell" has been hailed as a masterwork of personal cinema.
: The film is as much about how we tell stories as it is about the story itself. Polley includes shots of herself directing the interviews and her father in the recording booth, emphasizing the artifice involved in constructing any narrative. Critical Legacy and Themes
: To fill the gaps where no footage existed, Polley filmed elaborate re-creations using Super-8 film. These sequences, featuring actors like Rebecca Jenkins as Diane, are so authentic that they are often indistinguishable from real family memories. Stories We Tell(2012)
Sarah Polley’s is a groundbreaking autobiographical documentary that investigates the filmmaker's own family secrets and the elusive nature of truth. At its core, the film explores Polley’s discovery that the man who raised her, Michael Polley, was not her biological father—a revelation stemming from an affair her late mother, Diane, had while performing in a play in Montreal. The Quest for a Single Truth
Polley later won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for her 2022 film Women Talking , further cementing her status as a premiere voice in modern storytelling. Since its debut at the Venice Film Festival,
Polley uses a unique blend of real archival material and "faux" home video to challenge traditional documentary conventions.
: Despite the revelation, Michael remains a central figure, providing the film's narrative backbone by reading from a memoir he wrote about his life with Diane. His enduring love for Sarah and his thoughtful perspective on the past provide the film's most poignant emotional notes. Innovative Storytelling Techniques Critical Legacy and Themes : To fill the
: Through her research, Polley identifies her biological father as Harry Gulkin , a film producer she eventually meets and forms a friendship with.